Lock Stock & Barrel's Funding Story

“Our dreams were bigger than our budget”

The early days were tough for Mark and Ben Snowdon, a father and son partnership with their own men’s haircare business, Lock Stock and Barrel.

“We didn’t have the money we needed to keep production in house”, said Ben, Director. “With everything outsourced it felt that we didn’t have control of our own products.

“The business was growing but we knew we needed funding to help us reach the next level. As a small start-up with no track record or accounts, it quickly became clear this wouldn’t be as straightforward as we hoped.”

It was hard to get help

They found it impossible to secure the funding they needed from their bank.

“We had invested so much of our time and money into the business that it was frustrating to have doors closed in our faces," said Ben.

We knew it was time to look for new funding options.

“To be honest I hadn’t even heard of Invoice Finance before I spoke to Ultimate. But our eyes were opened once we explored how it worked and how it helps businesses like ours grow.”

The Ultimate accolade

Ultimate Finance provided Lock Stock and Barrel with an invoice finance facility which enabled them to receive the money from customer invoices straight away. This means they could reinvest it back into the business, take on more staff, bring manufacturing in-house and start exporting to 16 countries.

Lock Stock and Barrel has even received the royal seal of approval, as it recently received the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade from the Queen herself.

Lesley Mouncher, Relationship Manager at Ultimate Finance, knew the business had strong potential and had a great team behind it.

“It’s always a pleasure to help family-run businesses. It’s been fantastic to see how investment has helped Lock Stock & Barrel grow over the last 10 years and we look forward to helping Ben achieve ambitions of growing exports even further.”

“To be honest I hadn’t even heard of Invoice Finance before I spoke to Ultimate. But our eyes were opened once we explored how it worked and how it helps businesses like ours grow.”